Delegat’s lifts 1H profit; sells more wine, cuts costs

Feb. 26
(BusinessDesk) – Delegat’s Group lifted first-half
profit by 31 percent after increasing sales of wine in North
America and Europe and keeping expenses in check.

Profit
rose to $19.3 million, or 19.04 cents a share, in the six
months ended Dec. 31, from $14.7 million, or 14.45 cents, a
year earlier, the Auckland-based company said in a
statement. Revenue climbed 1 percent to $129.1
million.

The company lifted total case sales by 7 percent
to 1.09 million in the first half, with the strongest growth
in North America, where sales jumped 30 percent to 309,000.
Sales in the UK, Ireland and Europe climbed 2 percent to
403,000 while sales in Australia, New Zealand and the Asia
Pacific fell 3 percent to 378,000.

The case price
realisation fell 3 percent to $113.2, which the company said
reflected adverse foreign exchange movements. The company
held its operating gross margin at 59 percent.

The company
is on target to achieve full-year operating profit of $27
million.

“The directors continue to see the global
economic headwinds as a challenge but have confidence in the
resilience of the group’s business model and its ability
to deliver sustainable earnings into the future,” chairman
Robert Wilton said in the statement.

The shares last
traded at $5.37 and have more than doubled in the past year.
The company isn’t paying a
dividend.

The Wellington-based BusinessDesk team led by former Bloomberg Asian top editor Jonathan Underhill and Qantas Award-winning journalist and commentator Pattrick Smellie provides a daily news feed for a serious business audience.

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